


Velvet

by taiyoukei



Category: K-pop, Red Velvet (K-pop Band), TWICE (Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe - High School, F/F, Fluff, and i feel like irene and jihyo would be friends, i really love red velvet okay, joyrene, other people are being introduced, platonic joydy, platonic seulrene
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-06-24
Updated: 2017-10-25
Packaged: 2018-11-18 05:48:48
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 5
Words: 10,918
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11284953
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/taiyoukei/pseuds/taiyoukei
Summary: Bae Joohyun was someone who had always intrigued Sooyoung, but she had never expected to see her that day in the hallway. She was the star student, only really seen with Seulgi and Jihyo if she wasn't alone. Sooyoung was just an everyday, run of the mill underclassman. Seungwan will always be there to listen to what Sooyoung is feeling, but her description of Joohyun was more than surprising.





	1. The Meeting

**Author's Note:**

> This is my first time writing anything related to K-pop; I saw some complaints that there wasn't enough joyrene around, so I took it upon myself to write some! I hope you enjoy it!

Joohyun was a quiet student, diligent listener and note taker; someone the teachers always knew they could rely on. Sooyoung knew this, but she was determined to befriend her. There was a mysterious aura which surrounded Joohyun; she intrigued Sooyoung because of this. There had to be some sort of buried, more redeemable quality about her. She would get to the bottom of this. Sooyoung made this her goal. 

Many people were intrigued by Joohyun, of course. She was one of the most beautiful girls in the school after all, if not the most beautiful. Her skin looked smooth as porcelain, it was perfect, and her black hair was long and always brushed neatly. Everyone admired her; she was the dream girl for a large part of the school’s population. 

On the other hand, Sooyoung was someone who didn’t get perfect grades, much less any admirers. She had shorter hair than Joohyun, whose hair was past her shoulders, but it was a similar dark black shade. There was a distinct difference between the two – a large barrier in social class. Joohyun wasn’t someone who was really in a clique, and she certainly wasn’t rude to anyone who wasn’t on her level since she was such a kind girl, but this still worried Sooyoung. How would she approach such a perfect person? Could she even befriend her? It was worrisome indeed. 

They didn’t have any classes together because the beautiful girl was a grade above Sooyoung. They often passed each other in the hallway, but the younger girl wasn’t sure if she even knew of her existence. Seungwan, Sooyoung’s friend, had asked her why she was so determined to befriend her. She didn’t truly know the answer, to be honest. She couldn’t be attracted to Joohyun – that would be absurd. Park Sooyoung was not one who would simply get a childish crush on a girl, especially one who was the most beautiful upperclassmen. 

Deep in thought, Sooyoung was walking down the hallway and holding her books for her next class; her very disliked English class. The teacher just couldn’t take any jokes. Sooyoung couldn’t stand that. Regardless, she didn’t feel the need to skip it since it would just be even more of a waste of time as she didn’t have any more homework she needed to work through. Such a shame. 

She felt herself brush into someone in front of her. A slight oof sort of sound was heard from their impact. Uncharacteristically startled, all Sooyoung could do was look up at who she had run into, and was promptly brought back to reality. She had bumped into none other than Joohyun. Bae Joohyun. She felt her cheeks heat up a bit. Stupid cheeks, she thought. 

“I’m, uh, really sorry about that. I wasn’t paying attention.” The younger girl managed to spit out.  
“No problem. No harm was done; nothing to worry about, right?” Joohyun smiled at her.

It was this moment when Sooyoung managed to realize why everyone else was so mesmerized by her. Joohyun’s smile was extraordinary, it lit up the dim hallway of their school, and her eyes sparkled at her with hints of true friendliness. This intimidated the other. She didn’t know how to react to this, and her heart was beating quickly. A rare occasion. 

“I’m glad to hear that. I really do feel sorry, running into the school’s star student and all.” 

It was unlike Sooyoung for her to become so shy, but she didn’t know how to control it. This was something only the smiling upperclassman had ever done to her. She was someone special indeed. She was also dangerous. 

“I meant it when I said there was nothing to worry about. What’s your name? I’ve seen you in the hallway before, you’re fairly memorable.” The long-haired girl replied sincerely, further intimidating the younger. 

“Sooyoung. Park Sooyoung. I’m a grade below you; I know you’re Joohyun, the pride and joy of the school.” She admitted. 

Joohyun laughed, “Pride and joy of the school? I don’t know about that. You seem more joyful than me. We should both get to class though; I’ll see you around, alright?” 

“Y-yeah, of course.”

Sooyoung’s quest changed a bit. She had to make sure she heard Joohyun’s laugh again; it was one of the most beautiful things she has ever heard. She had never heard this pleasant melody before, and she decided it was quite a nice surprise. She was so screwed. 

Hurrying to her next class, she managed to arrive there and get to her seat on time. Her breathing was slightly uneasy, but she was able to make it so that this was not fairly obvious to the others in the class. That is, except Seungwan, who was giving her a curious look as she sat next to her. Sooyoung would not be able to get away from this without being asked about what had occurred in between classes. Unfortunately, English was the last class of the day which meant that there would certainly be no escape in sight for her.  
After what felt like two eternities, class ended with her teacher droning on about some rhetorical devices and their weekend reading material. Sooyoung tried to leave the classroom swiftly and stealthily, only to result in Seungwan following her. 

“Hey! Wait up! You can’t leave without me, Park Sooyoung.” She spoke loudly. 

Relieved to be outside of the building so that no one would turn to listen to them, Sooyoung decided to continue to speed-walk to the nearby bench in a park. A shady seat under trees where there would be no one who could possibly eavesdrop. Of course, the determined Son Seungwan was still following her; Sooyoung expected nothing less from her. She sighed, then sat on the bench and patted the space next to her, signaling for the other to sit next to her. 

“What’s gotten into you?” was the initial question she faced, Sooyoung could deal with this. Everything would be fine, or so she hoped.

“I spoke to Joohyun.” She offered.

“Oh.” 

“Yeah.” 

“So, how’d that happen?” Seungwan pried. 

“I, well, I more or less ran into her? Accidentally? I wasn’t paying attention and she was just… there. I don’t know.” She explained.

“Sooyoung, you realize you’re telling me that Bae Joohyun is what caused you to be all hot and bothered, right? You, the person who is never phased by anything, was that shaken up by a small chat with the most beautiful girl in the school – the girl who you’ve been dead set on befriending since the moment you saw her. I highly doubt that’s a coincidence and you know this too.” Seungwan stated, she was speaking the truth since she had never seen her best friend this shy and irritated. 

“I know! I know that, Seungwan, it’s just that this has to be a mistake. I’m the chatty, joking Park Sooyoung. I don’t let people bother me, this cannot be happening.” Her voice shook a little, she felt more vulnerable than she should. What was happening to her? 

“Hey, it’s okay. We’ll figure this out. It’s not that unreasonable for you to possibly develop feelings for the prettiest girl in school though.” She hugged her friend and smiled.

“Wendy, she laughed and I’m fairly certain it was the most beautiful sound I have ever had the pleasure of hearing. Help me, this can’t be happening to me… there’s no way I could start to have feelings for Joohyun. She’s so dull most of the time, we’re nothing like each other, there’s no way anything would ever happen, too. I just don’t know. I’m so frustrated by this.” 

Seungwan knew that her friend was being serious. Sooyoung doesn’t just casually throw around her childhood nickname. She also knew that this really wasn’t too hard to fathom. Joohyun was no doubt one of the most caring people around, and they had been exposed to her presence for a long time. Joohyun wasn’t really a stranger, even if they hadn’t spoken a lot before. Plus, Seungwan would always support her friend. After all, when she had realized that she was attracted to girls when they were younger, Sooyoung had supported her without a second thought. 

“Sooyoung, you shouldn’t worry, this will all be okay. I’m here and I’ll try to help how I can. You never know what will happen with miss Bae Joohyun. Did she seem like she wanted to be your friend? That’s always a place to start.” Seungwan smiled and she always knew how to help soothe her friend’s nerves, which Sooyoung was always more than grateful for. 

“She said she would ‘see me around,’ which is good, I guess.” She replied faintly.

“That is good. She’ll talk to you again, just wait and see, I promise.” 

A smile had formed on Seungwan’s lips. This was promising, definitely. Joohyun wasn’t really the type to just stand around talking to someone in the hallway. She didn’t have a large friend group; she mostly studied and focused on her work, her only friends really were Seulgi and Jihyo – two of her classmates. They had been friends for years, and Seungwan had heard they were just as friendly and intelligent as Joohyun. 

“Thank you.” 

That was all Sooyoung said, but Seungwan knew how grateful she was. Despite her tough, easygoing exterior, the girl was a bit emotionally vulnerable, no matter how much she hated others knowing and seeing her like this. It truly was a rare sight, but it was one Seungwan had grown accustomed to over time. 

“Come on, let’s go to your house. We can hang out and listen to music.” Sooyoung’s said suggested while standing up. 

“Yeah, that sounds like a good idea.” 

It was obvious that Sooyoung’s spirits had been uplifted, giving Seungwan some room to breathe a sigh of relief. She couldn’t help but worry about her best friend sometimes. She had a good feeling about this though – something good would be the result of it. She would make sure of that, at least. They could make some new friends too, or so she hoped. Next week could be full of grand, unexpected possibilities for the girls.


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Joohyun and Sooyoung meet for the second time. They talk, events pursued.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I got a bit excited so here's chapter two.

It was a cool Monday morning. The air was crisp while Sooyoung was walking to school, she was almost there and was arriving a bit early. She didn’t expect Seungwan to be there, so she decided to just go sit on campus outside the building and wait for her. She found herself staring off into the distance, zoning out a little. That is, until she noticed Joohyun. 

Joohyun was sitting in the corner of the campus with Seulgi and Jihyo, reading her new book from the library. It was an exciting tale called Goblin, she thought it would also make a compelling television drama. She enjoyed reading when she had spare time. She felt productive when she read, and wasting time was not something she liked to do. 

Seulgi spoke suddenly, catching her attention and causing her to look up from her reading, "Hey, Joohyun, isn't that the underclassman you were talking to on Friday? The one we saw you with for a moment."

Her eyes, along with Jihyo, trailed to where the monolid bear’s eyes were looking. There she was; Seulgi was right about it. Park Sooyoung was sitting near the edge of campus, seemingly looking off into the distance. Joohyun just assumed she was waiting for that girl that was often seen with her, what was her name? Seungwan? She knew of that girl because she was one the best students in the grade below her. 

"Yes, that's her. She has a name. It’s Sooyoung. Why do you ask?" She pondered, knowing she was entertaining her best friend. 

It was Jihyo turn to comment, "She is kind of cute, you know. Do you like her?" 

"Jihyo, I barely know her." Her response was bland and monotone. 

Seulgi cut in, "Yet you had a fair conversation with her in the hallway. We both know that's rare for you."

The school's beauty narrowed her eyes. She should have expected this much from them, but she could tell there was a bit of seriousness among their teasing. She sighed. Seulgi did have a fair point too – Joohyun wasn’t much of a conversationalist, especially not in the hallway of all places, or with a stranger. She preferred to get to class as quickly as she was able to so that she could get settled in, and this was true for every class except the first one of the day. She didn’t mind lingering a bit in the mornings; there was no harm done when she did so. Nevertheless, this could be a long morning if her best friends kept this up.

"That I did.” She admitted; there was no point in denying that, then continued, “It’s hard not to have a conversation with someone who accidentally bumps into you – she apologized like any well-mannered person would." 

"Well, I'll leave you here to think about that lovely, well-mannered conversation. Jihyo, do you want to go wait in the classroom with me before class starts?" Seulgi said with a wink.

"Why not; I have a little more homework to catch up on," she admitted, following her friend’s lead as she walked towards the door of the building. 

Joohyun took a deep breath as they walked away, her eyes returning to a book. Once she was sure her friends were gone, she glanced over in Sooyoung's direction, surprised when she found another set of dark eyes looking back at her. Suddenly, she was grateful that her book was covering most of her face because she could tell that she was blushing a bit. 

She was used to people looking at her since she was considered to be a bit popular within their school, but she was used to the looks being from men in her grade, people like Jimin and Jongin, not cute girls. They were certainly a different, more attention-grabbing occasion. 

No one really knew that Joohyun liked girls, well except her two friends, but they were as trustworthy as anyone could be and kept their mouths shut. She did the same for them, as they liked girls too. It'd always been that way; even since they were kids, they had little interest in men and no romantic or sexual attraction to them. 

Regardless, here Joohyun was, making eye contact with Sooyoung from across the yard. Girls made Joohyun feel at peace - they are soft and warm; beautiful souls with beautiful bodies too. Their personalities were usually just as beautiful too. She didn't doubt that Sooyoung's is. 

She smiled to herself, just enough that Sooyoung could see it in the older girl's eyes. This slightly overwhelmed the younger; she felt fuzzy and her stomach grew full of butterflies, but that didn't stop her from smiling back. 

This was a chance for her. She could either stay there sitting or approach the girl who was originally peacefully reading. She took a deep breath and decided to go for it. Park Sooyoung wasn't one who would usually back down from a challenge. Seungwan would have to wait a bit for her once she arrived, but Sooyoung had a feeling that she wouldn't mind very much. She would probably commend her effort. 

Her mind had decided. This was a time where she would be bold; she would be witty and go for it. She slowly got up and walked over to the girl who looked like a goddess in the flesh, praying she wouldn't disturb her. If there was one thing that Sooyoung hated, it was to be a bother. She didn’t expect that many people enjoyed being bothersome. 

Sooyoung swallowed before she spoke; saying a meager, "Hey."

Joohyun looked up from her book again, "Good morning, Sooyoung." 

Even first thing in the morning, Sooyoung thought Joohyun looked breath-taking. No wonder most of the school was completely whipped when it came to her. Her looks were stunning, and her voice was as soft as velvet. It’s hard for anyone to be on this level of beauty. Joohyun was so angelic that she’d be something you’d see after you died; an angel to greet you in the afterlife. 

"Are you having a good morning? I hope I'm not bothering you." The younger girl asked, while admitting her fears to the upperclassman. 

"No, not at all. Your company is welcome with me. I did say I would see you around, after all." Joohyun put her bookmark in her page and closed the book, setting it in her lap, then smiling at her.

Sooyoung swore Joohyun's smile was as bright as the sun. As bright as a full moon on a cloudless night too, with her eyes gleaming like the thousands of stars in the sky. She wondered if Joohyun always smiled like this. It was so genuine; it made Sooyoung melt a bit inside. Her heart pounded. 

She decided to be even more daring, taking her seat next to the other girl. The younger hoped that the other wouldn't be able to hear her heartbeat. She wouldn't be able to explain herself; she would be trapped. For all Sooyoung knew, Joohyun could be straight. That would be a sticky situation. She didn't want to do that to herself. 

It's okay, she thought. Joohyun hadn't flinched or moved away from her. That had to be a good sign. The few seconds of silence between them felt like eons for the short-haired girl. Then, after Sooyoung was sure her heart had simply stopped beating from overuse, the peaceful girl started humming a soft melody to herself. Sooyoung didn't recognize it, but it was full of tranquility. 

"Joohyun?" she asked.

"Hm?" the other, who had gone back to reading a moment ago, responded when her name was called. 

"Could we maybe... just sit like this until class starts?" Sooyoung spoke in a small voice, a voice which was shaking a little, just like her delicate hands. 

Joohyun turned and looked at her. She then gave the nervous girl one of her signature smiles. Sooyoung's nerves were cut in half, though her hands still trembled. She was trying to use Joohyun’s smile as a reason to reassure herself that this would be okay – that this wouldn’t be the cause of her death. Really though, Bae Joohyun is going to kill Park Sooyoung with kindness. Her poor, gay heart won’t be able to handle this for too long. 

"I'd like that." 

"Oh, really?" Sooyoung exclaimed unconsciously with a small squeak of excitement, followed by her silently mentally scolding herself before she quickly opened her mouth to speak again, "I-I mean, that sounds nice, thank you."

Joohyun laughed a little and set her book down again. The lighthearted sound was still music to Sooyoung's ears. She turned her body to face Sooyoung's side, placing her left hand over the other's right one. This caused the latter's eyes to widen and her cheeks to flush. 

Leaning over towards her so that she could speak into her ear, she spoke, "You don't need to worry. I'm not as cold hearted as others may make me out to be. I enjoy your company." 

With that, Sooyoung's cheeks grew bright pink. Luckily, she was saved by the first bell for class, meaning she had 4 minutes to get moving. She hadn't ended up waiting for Seungwan after all. Sooyoung hadn’t realized this until now. Time does fly when you’re having fun, or at least when you’re with your new crush it does, so it seems. 

Joohyun promptly got up to begin to walk, but first she turned and said, "I'll see you later, Sooyoung." 

Sooyoung was too awestruck to speak, silently hoping that her blush was not visible to the older girl. Bae Joohyun had left the chatty Park Sooyoung completely speechless. That was surely a feat for the record books. After a moment, she too got up and began walking to class.

Seungwan approached her in the hallway as they rushed to their classroom, "So, hanging out with Joohyun again?" She winked. 

"It's not like that, I swear. I was going to wait for you, but-" Sooyoung tried to say before getting cut off mid-sentence.

"Sooyoung, don't worry. It makes me happy that you got to talk to her. Plus, it looked like you were getting a little touchy-feely." Seungwan winked again.

Sooyoung rolled her eyes at her best friend as they both walked into the classroom. Thankfully they were on time, or else they would've faced the wrath of their teacher, Kim Taeyeon. Sooyoung thought she was a great teacher and everyone liked her, but you did not want to make her angry. She took her seat just before Taeyeon walked into the room to greet the class.

It turns out that Bae Joohyun is quite the distraction as Sooyoung found herself having a difficult time while trying to concentrate in her classes. Time seemed to be slower than ever, which frustrated her even more. Of course, Seungwan took this as an opportunity to lightly tease her when she was able to, but nothing too terrible was said. She knew Sooyoung’s tolerance limit, especially when it came to teasing her about crushes. They were so rare for her and Seungwan was aware of that fact. 

Seungwan couldn’t help but marvel at the effect that Joohyun was having on her best friend. She was so easily flustered by her, this was a side of Sooyoung that she had never seen before. It made her wonder just how little this crush really was. 

The pair decided to go to the library for lunch. Sooyoung could quietly complain there, her best friend worried that if she did not get a chance to complain then she may explode. That would be quite a misfortune, especially since Joohyun had a budding friendship with Sooyoung, which appeared to be promising. Seungwan could only hope this at least, since she hadn’t really seen or heard enough to be completely certain. Her gut was rarely wrong though. Her best friend also happened to be deserving of some good karma for once.

They entered the library and the first things they saw weren’t books, rather it was Jihyo and Seulgi. This hopefully would be good for the best friends. They hadn’t been spotted yet, making their way to the empty table on the far end of the room. Perhaps they could befriend Joohyun’s best friends too. It couldn’t hurt. There were many possible outcomes of this. 

As they were sitting and eating, Sooyoung recited the event’s details to Seungwan, who was intently listening. It was helping Sooyoung clear her mind, at the very least. Seungwan had wanted to hear all about the morning anyway. 

“She really touched your hand? And leaned close to you like that?” she was a bit surprised as no one had really seen Joohyun get too affectionate before, sparing some times when she was with her best friends.

Sooyoung’s response was honest; “Yes. It surprised me. I mean, I’m not complaining or anything, but I didn’t really know how to react. She could still be straight for all I know.” 

The two were speaking in hushed tones. It was a library after all, but also for their own safety. Korean society was still extremely conservative, and their topic of conversation was certainly frowned upon. They had to keep glancing around them to make sure no one was close enough to hear them. 

“We could try to talk to those two,” Seungwan suggested, ushering towards Seulgi and Jihyo, “they could certainly make some hints. We wouldn’t want to bring up Joohyun out of the blue though.”  
“You’re right, but it could still be odd for us to approach them out of nowhere.” 

“Hey! Have some more faith in the great Son Seungwan! I can totally come up with some reason for us. You shouldn’t doubt my skills, you know. I am quite talented if I do say so myself.” She countered with a grin, causing Sooyoung to grin back at her. 

“You’re right. I was underestimating the great Seungwan; my hero since childhood, my partner in crime, my fellow lesbian, my best friend.” She joked. 

“See! Case closed, we can do this. All you need to do is follow my lead.” 

They had finished eating by now and there were still about ten minutes remaining in their lunch shift. Seungwan had gotten up, Sooyoung did as she was told and followed the girl. She could only hope that this went well. Otherwise they had no explanation to offer. 

“Hello,” Seungwan tried, gathering the Joohyun’s best friends’ attention before she continued. 

They turned to look at them. They were standing about a foot away from them, receiving curious looks from the older women. Seulgi had started to smirk slightly, while Jihyo was just giving them a loving smile. This didn’t seem to be going poorly so far, Sooyoung could only hope that it stayed that way. 

“Hi, you’re Sooyoung.” the cuddly bear winked in her direction, then turned toward the other younger girl, “You’re Seungwan, right?” 

“That’s us,” Sooyoung offered, “but how did you know our names?” 

Jihyo chose to answer her question, the light-haired girl kept the smile on her face while she spoke with a sincerely friendly tone, “You know Joohyun, Sooyoung, and your friend over there is at the top of your class; it’s hard to ignore the top students. I have a feeling you might have experience with this.” 

“I- What do you mean?” was the stuttering response that came from the girl who was a bit taken aback by this statement. 

“I think you know what I’m referring to, my dear.” 

Sooyoung’s eyes widened. There was no way she was that obvious. That just couldn’t be the case. How did Jihyo know these sorts of things? It was just hard for her to believe. She opened her mouth and promptly closed it again, unable to muster up a response at the moment. Her best friend seemed to be as shocked as she was. There was no way those two had overheard their conversation earlier, so they had to have been getting their information elsewhere. Had Joohyun spoken about her? She didn’t know what to think.

Seulgi interrupted her thoughts, “Hey, stop overthinking for a moment and listen. We’re not here to cause you any trouble, I do mean it when I saw that. Maybe we could instead become acquainted with each other.” 

That wasn’t a bad idea. If they all became friends then there was a larger chance for her to see Joohyun, plus they did seem like good people. Sooyoung thought she might enjoy their friendship. Seungwan had wanted to befriend some upperclassmen too, that was she could ask about some of their future classes. 

Seungwan seemed to have gotten the same impression because she said, “That sounds good to me. Let’s swap phone numbers.” 

They swapped numbers and came to the conclusion that the group should go their separate ways as the next classes would start in a few moments. Sooyoung left to walk with her best friend, while unsurprisingly the other two left to walk together. 

“Sooyoung, we should try to arrange a time to get together with them outside of school soon. They could bring Joohyun too.” Suggested the other girl.

“That’s a good idea, nothing else to be expected from you, of course. It’s a shame we didn’t end up needing your plan earlier.”

Laughing, Seungwan replied, “Hey, I’d rather everything go better than planned like that did. We wanted to attempt to befriend them, but I didn’t imagine we’d end up getting their contact information, or even that they’d know who we are.” 

“This is true,” Sooyoung pursed her lips, “I just wonder what exactly they’ve heard about me… Jihyo made it seem like they knew that I liked Joohyun too.”

“They seem trustworthy. I don’t think you need to worry about that. Jihyo especially seemed friendly; she was smiling the entire time.” 

“You’re right, of course. What would I do without you, Son Seungwan?”

Her best friend laughed, “Park Sooyoung, that is one thing I fortunately don’t know the answer to.”


	3. Walks and Talks

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Seulgi and Jihyo continue to tease their best friend. Yeri joins the team and some feelings are mentioned. A bit more of Joohyun's background is revealed.

The day had ended and Joohyun was greeted by her best friends. She lamented about the fact that they did not have that many classes together on Mondays. That was out of their control of course as they did not make their schedules, but this was still not something they enjoyed. Then again, if it were their choice they would probably have all of their classes together. Despite loving her friends, Joohyun wasn’t sure if she would have been able to survive that. 

Seulgi chose to take the opportunity to tease her about the day’s previous events; the girl began to speak, “Joohyun, we saw your girlfriend at the library during our lunch shift. She was with Seungwan.”

“Firstly, she is not my girlfriend. Secondly, why are you even mentioning this? Did something happen?” Joohyun questioned, she knew that her friend definitely had a motive behind this. 

“Well, we may or may not have taken the initiative to befriend the two of them, which also may or may not have included obtaining their phone numbers. I thought you’d be jumping at the mention of her, hence why we mentioned it.” Jihyo explained.

Joohyun choked on air a little, “You got her _phone number?"_

Clarification was needed about this because she just could not believe it; her beloved best friends had managed to easily get Sooyoung’s phone number. Something she could not manage to do herself. She couldn’t help but feel a little disappointed that she wasn’t able to get it when she was with the younger girl in the morning. She had to push that disappointment aside though. 

Her reaction must’ve been fairly easy to read as her friends laughed at her. They had known Joohyun long enough to pick up on when she was beginning to like a girl, and this certainly made it that much more obvious for them. She had known that she wouldn’t be able to hide it for very long anyway. She’d be foolish to think otherwise. 

“We did.” Jihyo responded.

Joohyun was brought back to reality. A reality in which her best friends had just gotten the phone number she wanted very much. She wasn’t usually a jealous person, but she was a bit jealous right now. Of course she wouldn’t just get Sooyoung’s phone number from them; she had to get it herself, on her own terms with Sooyoung. After a moment of breathing, she was able to return to her usual calm composure, it was as though she had never changed from it. 

“What are you going to do with it?” She questioned; her friends were up to something, she knew it. 

“I don’t know, maybe get to know them a bit, hang out, the like.”

Seulgi had finally decided to reenter the conversation, “They seem like nice people. Her friend is pretty cute too.”

Joohyun sighed. There was not much that the black-haired girl could do about this situation other than to wait until her friends calmed down. It would be easier to get a message across to Jihyo, whose skull was nowhere near as thick as Seulgi’s – she is quite an oblivious bear when you are trying to get your point to be heard. 

Jihyo did actually seem to partially get the message, therefore she said, “Well, regardless, we can’t stand around here all day. We should all probably get going, would you like to come to my house? We can study together for that test on Wednesday.” 

Seulgi frowned. “I can’t. I have to go to the library today.”

“Don’t worry; you know you’re always welcome at my house,” the girl responded with a smile, “there’s always tomorrow. What about you, Joohyun?”

Seulgi had begun to walk away before the other girl had a chance to respond to the question which she was asked. In some ways, Joohyun was thankful for this. It meant that Seulgi wouldn’t be there to tease her any longer. Her patience was running thin, which wasn’t a good thing. She took pride in generally being a very patient person – she couldn’t let something like this take that title away from her. That would be too silly of her. 

Joohyun promptly replied, “I have to pick Yerim up from school today. I don’t want to leave her alone at home – I would feel bad if I did.” 

Jihyo’s face lit up, “I’ll go with you,” she grinned, “that kiddo always has some new joke to tell. Little Yeri will grow up to be quite the comedian.” 

“Please don’t encourage her.” She was trying to plead with her friend, and clearly failing at it.

Jihyo laughed, “Why not? Most of her jokes are making fun of you. It’s comedy gold if you ask me, which is exactly why I will accompany you both to your house.” 

“Park Jisoo,” Joohyun’s eyes narrowed, “I swear I don’t know why I put up with you.” 

Much to her annoyance, Jihyo just continued laughing as she responded to her, “It’s cute when you try to be threatening, using my full name and all. No wonder that kid likes you so much. Cute girls are a common weakness.” 

“Sure. Whatever you say. I’m not even going to bother with trying to argue over this one. I know to pick my battles.” She kept her voice calm as they continued to walk towards Yeri’s school. She did not want to draw attention to herself. That would just make everything worse. She would rather not die of embarrassment today. It wouldn’t help her record for school, nor her best friends who would suffer without her to keep them from teasing each other constantly. 

“So you’re not going to deny that I said she likes you?” Jihyo’s voice showed a bit of concern, as she knew this was uncharacteristic of her friend. 

“I never said that. Please just leave it at that. I really am not in the mood to argue.” All she could do was sigh, it seemed as though today truthfully was not going to be her day.

She was thankful when her friend obliged her request; she knew that Jihyo was the more mature one out of her two best friends, though she didn’t resist the urge to comment once more, “Someone’s in a bad mood.” 

Joohyun responded, she was really losing her cool and her voice reflected that – it was a bit snarky in tone, “I wonder why.” 

This prompted Jihyo to hum quietly as they walked side by side. She could only hope that this gesture and a bit of silence would help to calm Joohyun. She shouldn’t have been so surprised that her words were bothering her, but she wasn’t clear of the extent to which they were doing so. Eventually, the pair reached the middle school, where they saw a bright smile plastered on a kid with bright red hair’s face waiting to greet them. 

“Jihyo! You came here to walk home with us too?” Her voice was as bubbly as her personality, which was quite a contrast from Joohyun. The differences between the two always made the girl in question laugh. 

“Of course I did, little miss Kim Yerim. Who else would tell you all the interesting details of the secrets at the high school?” She responded to the energetic kid with a wink.

Despite being two years older than her, Jihyo was good friends with her. Though, she supposed that she kind of had to be considering she lived with her best friend. They were sisters, adopted, but sisters none the less. Blood didn’t mean all it was cracked out to be. A family was a lot more than that. She knew that her best friend loved her sister more than anyone else in the world, as well as the fact that Yeri thought of Joohyun as her idol. In turn, Joohyun tried to become the best role model that she could possibly be for the younger girl. Jihyo thought this was quite admirable, though she never mentioned it because she knew it would embarrass her. Regardless, this truly warmed her heart. 

The red haired girl’s eyes lit up as she said, “Please enlighten me about all the excitement that this loser over here,” she stopped to point at Joohyun, “feels the need to keep from me. It’s not fair.”

Jihyo kneeled on the ground to stage whisper in the kid’s ear, “Well, your big sister over here is talking to a girl.”

Yeri’s eyes widened in amusement and surprise, while her sister could only look at the ground blushing. She couldn’t believe this betrayal. Her own best friend was betraying her to her own sister? Whose side were they on? This was just unacceptable. 

“Is she really?” Yeri giggled, “I bet she hates us both right now. We need to never let her live this moment down. The peak of our cruelty has arrived.” 

“I do hate you both. You’re as smart as always, little one.” Joohyun grumbled unpleasantly. 

Jihyo knew that Yeri’s presence had completely calmed her friend down, no matter how hard she might be trying to act otherwise. This was good for both of them. They wouldn’t have to face the wrath of Bae Joohyun on this fine afternoon. 

“What’s her name?” Yeri was clearly on the hunt for information, addressing both of them with the question, though she knew who would most likely be the one to answer. 

Surprisingly, Joohyun quickly covered Jihyo’s mouth and spoke her mind, “That’s a secret. Now we should get going before the sun starts to set, besides we don’t want to make a scene in public. You know how Korean society is, you’ve lived here all your life after all.” She finished speaking, glaring at the older girl who was in her company. She needed to be more careful.  
In a hushed voice, she decided to add one more point to her statement, “I’m the top of our grade, Jihyo, imagine what would happen if others found out. Do you really want to risk that?”

“You’re right. I’m sorry. Let’s get moving, our conversation can always continue at your house. Your parents won’t be home until later than usual, I’m assuming. They usually get home fairly late anyway.” 

They all got up and began their journey to Joohyun and Yeri’s household. Yeri, who took it upon herself to diffuse the situation, grabbed Joohyun’s left hand in her right one and Jihyo’s right hand in her left one so that she was able to happily walk between the two. She was an affectionate person and neither of them had any complaints about it. They liked her affection, it was soothing. A lot of the time, Yeri found herself thinking of Jihyo and Seulgi as her sisters too. They were certainly at her house enough for them to be. 

The youngest of the trio began to sing a little song about happiness and love. The two older girls had to admit that the kid was one of the best kids out there. She really was good at calming them all down and lightening their moods, she was a jokester, but she did truly care about them all. She knew how to show it too, for actions speak louder than words. 

They reached the dwelling place of the mismatched family. It was somewhat empty, and physically empty a lot of the time, but Joohyun knew that her frequently visiting best friends and Yeri could always lighten it up. The home became cozy and quite lovely when it was full of happiness like that. She wished that it would remain like this forever. Her best friends never excluded Yeri from their activities, and she loved them more for this. Her younger sister didn’t have many friends at her school, but next year she would be able to go to school with the three of them. She looked forward to it. Joohyun liked to be there to protect and watch over her sister; her happiness was the most important to her. 

“SO! It’s time for you to spill the tea; you have a lot of talking to do, Joohyun. Tell me all about this girl! I have to know.” 

Joohyun was broken out from her thoughts and she sighed as a result of this, despite knowing that this would happen sooner or later. She supposed it was best to get the explanations over with before anything got too serious. She didn’t want Yeri to ever feel left out, or as though her sister was purposely keeping things from her. 

“Her name is Sooyoung. She’s a year older than you and a year younger than me. She’s known to be a bit playful, like you are, Yerim. I don’t know what else to say. What do you want to know?” Joohyun began, she was biting her lip because this could end up being very embarrassing for her. 

“That’s boring! Is she pretty? Does she treat you nicely? Does she have Jihyo’s approval?” Yeri cheerfully began giving the two older girls a list of questions to answer. She needed all of this information to prove an accurate analysis. 

“I’ll answer these,” Jihyo announced, sparing the dark haired girl from the pain of doing so, “I think Sooyoung is very pretty, but she definitely more Joohyun’s type than my own. From what I’ve seen, she’s very sweet to your sister. She keeps her company. She’s quiet when she needs to be. I don’t know why I wouldn’t approve of her. I’ve strived to become her friend too so that she knows she’s welcome to come talk to us all.” 

“Good, good. I needed to make sure that loser wasn’t just making up stuff to make me like her future girlfriend or whatever.” 

This made her older sister blush, though she was glad that Yeri wasn’t against the thought of her dating Sooyoung if that were to ever occur. She knew that not all people would be so fortunate. Yeri was very picky and would be able to figure out who would be a good influence and who wouldn’t be. Her judgement was the most important to her, especially since her parents would not be making any judgement on this. She’d rather not have that happen. 

“Thank you for being accepting of Sooyoung, kiddo.” She spoke with a smile, her words shining with gratitude, ruffling her red hair.

“That’s my job.” She replied with a grin.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for reading! I hope you enjoyed it - please let me know if you did :')


	4. Friday Nights

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Seulgi triumphantly decides after a long day at school that the group needs to spend their night throwing a party for their friends. EXO, Twice, Pristin, Blackpink and others are invited. There's bonding between everyone and some quality time spent between Sooyoung and Joohyun.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i'm sorry this took so long! i've had practically nonstop doctor's appointments, but here's the update!

A few days had passed and Seulgi, Jihyo, Sooyoung, and Seungwan were becoming fairly decent friends, naturally, Joohyun was included in this as well, though it was slightly tense whenever all of them were in the same place. This would be due to the way in which Sooyoung and Joohyun go about interacting with each other in their own flirty manner – they were treading water and walking on eggshells at the same time, carefully trying not to disrupt the slight balance which they have managed to maintain between being friends or something more. Neither of them wanted to rush this; it was a delicate procedure and at the end of the day they both wanted to be friends, if not something more. Friendship comes first. 

It was Friday and the girls had been hanging out with each other before or after school sometimes if they were able to. Generally, it would still be in their usual groups – Jihyo, Seulgi, and Joohyun, or Seungwan and Sooyoung. Really, they were trying to be more inclusive of the other people, though that can prove to be difficult. 

Today was Friday, but school was relatively uneventful. Everyone seemed tired, so they hadn’t spoken much in the morning, at lunch, or between classes. However, once the day ended they seemed to have gained more energy, fueled by the excitement of the weekend. 

“Hey, I have an idea,” Seulgi proposed with a large smile on her face. 

Joohyun, naturally, figured her best friend was trying to plan something a bit mischievous, but with good intention, so she replied, “What’s that?”

Seulgi grinned, “A party tonight, at my place since my parents are out of town for the weekend.”

Entering the conversation, Jihyo added, “Isn’t this a bit late notice for a party? I mean, it’s tonight, you know?” she said with a laugh, but not wishing to crush her friend’s spirits.

“No! We can still have a party. It doesn’t have to be a big one – we could just invite a few people, like Sana, Jongin, Roseanne, Seungwan, Sehun from the grade below us, Sooyoung, Nayeon, Momo, and maybe some others? How does that sound to you guys?” Her voice was full of pride and it was clear that she was not going to give up on the idea of this party anytime soon. 

Jihyo and Joohyun looked at each other and sighed. It was clear that they had lost this fight and that they would be spending the night at Seulgi’s place. The girls could only hope that everything went well, but they shouldn’t have too much to worry about. They only wanted to invite people they know, and their friends would hopefully be respectful enough not to disobey their wishes and invite others. This couldn’t go terribly wrong. 

“Okay, I don’t see why not.” Joohyun finally said, making Seulgi give her a bright eye smile and a high five. 

“I’ll text the others and tell them about it. What time should they get to your house?” the third girl added. She fought with Joohyun for the title of most responsible and this was merely an example of that as she tried to help with the planning of the party. 

Tilting her head to think for a moment, Seulgi answered Jihyo’s question, “What about around eight or nine? You guys will need to help me clean a bit and buy some food and everything. Oh, Yeri can help too!” 

Joohyun raised an eyebrow; she didn’t necessarily want her little sister getting involved with this in the chance that something went wrong or anyone got in trouble. Though, she didn’t necessarily want to leave Yeri alone for the night since their mother would be working very late so she didn’t feel the need to argue. 

After hearing Seulgi’s response, Jihyo had already begun texting everyone to let them know about the party. It was already an unspoken fact that this wouldn’t be anything too formal, but they knew that everyone would still be at least a bit dressed up. It was a party. Everyone simply wanted to wear something they were comfortable in. 

Instead of standing around to continue discussing the party preparations, they decided to make good use of their time and walk to pick Yerim up from her school, thanks to Joohyun’s persistence to do so. They continued chatting along the way and were having fun deciding what food they should buy from the convenience store, what music they should play on the Kang’s surround sound system, and many more elements which they would include. Everyone had been stressed lately, so they hoped that this would help them. 

Once they reached Yeri’s school and greeted her, they explained their plans to her – Joohyun had already contacted their mother and gotten permission to stay at Seulgi’s for the night – and she was as excited as always. Maybe her older sister didn’t need to be so worried about the thought of her hanging around all of them. It wasn’t that she was embarrassed of Yeri or anything, because she loved that kid to death, but rather that she was worried about her safety. 

However, the short girl decided to interrupt her older sister’s thoughts, “Wait, does this mean I get to meet Sooyoung? Because I want to meet Sooyoung, pretty please, I want to see what she’s like.”  
“Of course you can meet her, little squirtle.” Jihyo answered before Joohyun got a chance, winking at her while doing so.

“Hey! That’s not fair, I wanted to have a say in this.” She butted into the conversation, and she felt herself blushing a bit.

Seulgi joined the club of people who tease Bae Joohyun by adding, “Sucks to be you - the kid’s going to meet her eventually, you know that. There’s no point in delaying this. It’ll be fine, what’s the worst that could happen?” 

Joohyun narrowed her eyes. She didn’t trust this. Her favorite people are all standing here and she knows that they love to tease her, so she would have to be careful about this. The way that Yeri’s eyes were twinkling with mirth didn’t help to settle her mind. Regardless, she didn’t want to argue with the girls so she kept her mouth shut. 

“I’ll be good, I promise.” The youngest of the four announced, sticking out her tongue and running ahead of the older trio to keep them from saying anything. 

 

After hours of party preparations, it was finally time for the guests to start arriving. To say that Joohyun was nervous was an understatement, though she tried her best not to show it. The girls had all stopped at their homes before walking to Seulgi’s house, gathering whatever clothing or makeup they would need for the night. They had cleaned the Kang household until it glimmered in the colored lights which they had hung, created a playlist for them to listen to, which was currently booming throughout the house, set up drinks and food, and changed so that they were ready. 

Joohyun was wearing tight, black jeans and a pretty cropped top with stripes on it. Her long, dark hair was pulled back neatly. Yerim had proudly exclaimed that her older sister looked like a goddess with a wild smile on her face. She said that she was certain that Joohyun would have good luck tonight. She couldn’t help but hope that Yeri’s statement was correct.

The youngest of them all was standing near Joohyun while looking out the window. She was wearing bright orange shorts and a striped tank top. Her blonde hair had been neatly brushed and styled by Joohyun, which Yeri adored. She even had orange earrings in to match her shorts. The bright orange helped to convey how bright the girl is, but the color wasn’t really out of place, even if Seulgi’s house was currently a bit dimly lit for the party.

Yeri was probably the most excited for the night. The girl didn’t always get to be with her sister and her best friends, but she always enjoyed it. Tonight was her chance to meet other friends of Joohyun, so it was her chance to make her sister proud. Joohyun always said that she was proud of Yeri, but she wanted to give her another reason to say it. 

Jihyo, who was currently standing near the one table with cups for the various drinks they had purchased, was wearing a pretty, navy skirt which ended before her knees, along with a nice, white crop top. She left her wavy hair flowing and she was proud of her outfit choice. 

Seulgi was waiting by the door to greet guests, mainly because this was her house. Still, she was a prideful person so she wanted to give her family a good reputation. She was dressed in shorts which were tight and black, with a buttoned, blue short-sleeved shirt that said “soak in the sun” tucked into them. She looked good and her brown hair was brushed and straight. Her outfit could seem a bit boring to some, but she managed to pull it off with elegance. 

Eventually, after what seemed like an eternity, Yeri’s diligent studies of the window paid off as she spotted the first people who were arriving. Jongin, Sehun, and their other friends, all forming their own sort of clique – they called it EXO – were walking along the sidewalk up to the doorway of the house. Their outfits varied, though most of them were wearing long pants and some sort of shirt with buttons. 

They entered the house and Joohyun introduced her sister to them, the crowd kindly greeting each other. They were conversing more within their groups at first, which made sense since they were the only ones there so far. Yeri had dragged Joohyun back over towards the window so that she could go back to watch duty. 

Seeing a girl with freshly dyed red hair, Yeri spoke, “Joohyun, who is that? She’s really pretty.” 

Joohyun fumbled with her words a bit as she responded to her sister, “Oh, uh, that’s Sooyoung. She’s definitely beautiful. The girl who is walking behind her now is Seungwan – that’s her best friend. She’s nice too.”

“Hey! Don’t try to change the subject!” She couldn’t resist the chance to call the older girl out on the way that she was trying to avoid this; it was refreshing to see Joohyun excited about someone since that was rare and she did enjoy seeing her sister happy. 

She pulled her sister over to the hallway where Seulgi and Jihyo were currently chatting so that they would be there once Sooyoung and Seungwan rang the doorbell or knocked on the door – whichever they preferred. Yeri was practically oozing excitement out of her soul and the older girls were fairly positive that it was becoming contagious. 

They knocked on the door and Seulgi promptly opened it, ushering them into the house with a simple, “Hey, welcome to the party. Not many people are here yet, but we hope you have fun.” 

The pair replied with a simple, “Thank you,” as they walked into the freshly cleaned house. Though, Seungwan began chatting with Jihyo and Seulgi, so Sooyoung walked around them.

Sooyoung glanced around the hallway, first seeing Joohyun, then seeing the shorter girl next to her. She didn’t recognize her, so she was fairly certain that it wasn’t anyone from their school. Regardless, she was positively beaming a flashy smile at her, which made Sooyoung smile back. 

“Hi, I’m Yerim, but please call me Yeri! Joohyun is my sister, and you’re Sooyoung, right? Everyone says good things about you, let’s become friends.” The blonde haired girl spoke quickly while keeping the giant smile on her face, her words practically bounced around the hallway as they were full of so much energy. 

The red haired girl couldn’t help but laugh, especially after noticing that Joohyun was slightly blushing at what her little sister had just said, “Yes, I’m Sooyoung, and, sure, let’s become friends. You have to be a lovely person if you’re that hard working nerd’s little sister.” 

“Yes, I promise you that I’m absolutely lovely. I’m quite wonderful, you see. Everything I know is thanks to Joohyun though; she’s the best sister ever and-“

The energetic girl was cut off when her sister spoke, “Okay, Yeri, we all know how loveable you are and I’m sure that Sooyoung gets the point, but you do realize I’m right here.” She said this with a laugh, but she was obviously just embarrassed at her praises. 

It looked like Sooyoung was about to speak, but they were interrupted when they heard the doorbell ring. Seulgi opened the door for them, and it was clear that the other girls had arrived. They were their own sort of friend group, too. There were nine of them and they liked to call themselves Twice. All of them were dressed in pretty clothes for the party. 

Yeri was introduced to them and they all seemed to be getting along well. Yeri had even left Sooyoung and Joohyun to go talk to one of them, Nayeon. Joohyun was definitely glad that her sister was making more friends since she didn’t have many of her own, she was proud of her little social butterfly and it warmed her heart. Tonight was going to be a good night. 

“Hey, want to go get some food with me?” Sooyoung asked though it wasn’t much of a question since she had grabbed Joohyun’s hand and began guiding her to the other room.  
Still, the older girl felt the need to reply, a smile painting her face as she did, “I’d like that.” 

They were standing by the food table, eating some snacks, as the others began to arrive. Roseanne came with Lisa, Jisoo and Jennie. Jimin had arrived with two of his friends – Yoongi and Taehyun. Nayoung had arrived with Siyeon, Jieqiong, Minkyung, Yebin and the other girls. They called themselves Pristin and always hung out together. Jeonghan, Joshua, and a few other boys who they were friends with had ended up coming too. Overall, she was happy with the crowd as she knew they would all be pleasant and behave. 

The atmosphere so far was nice and it made Joohyun happy that everything was going well. This party was important to Seulgi since she had enthusiastically wanted it to happen. On top of this, Jihyo, herself, and Yerim had put a lot of time tonight into helping Seulgi clean and prep for the party so that nothing went wrong. This was a nice change from their usual, stressful school environment.  
Everyone was in the room, Seulgi’s living room, now since it was spacious and her house had an open floor plan. The two observed that the others were beginning to talk to people outside their main friend groups now – Yeri was talking to Roseanne, Siyeon and Sehun, Lisa was chatting with Yoongi, Yewon was talking to Dahyun, and so on. They were all making new friends.

Since there were more people now, they decided to stack some of the food they wanted on two plates and go sit near one of the corners so that there wouldn’t be too big of a crowd around the table. They had been there for a while, anyway. 

“Your hair looks really pretty, you know.” Joohyun began, lightly smiling and brushing her hand through the other girl’s hair. 

This made the taller girl smile, “Thank you, Seungwan helped me dye it. I had hoped you would like it. I didn’t really know if you liked that sort of thing.” She admitted. 

“Want to hear a secret?” The older girl asked, which confused Sooyoung, but Joohyun spoke in a clear way and that indicated that it wasn’t anything bad.

“Sure, go ahead.” She replied slowly with a slight, almost hesitant, nod. 

Joohyun leaned over and whispered into her ear, “It doesn’t matter what color your hair is – I’ll like it anyway because it’s you, Sooyoung.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i hoped you liked this! if not, please leave feedback :~)  
> i posted a picture of what seulgi was wearing to the party on my twitter, which is @taiyoukei_ao3! if you have any questions, comments, or concerns, please feel free to contact me there


	5. Daring Moves

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The party continues and Joohyun and Sooyoung continue to spend time together.

To say that Sooyoung was unsure of how to react was an understatement, rather she seemed to find herself utterly speechless. She was getting friendlier per say with Joohyun, but this compliment still made her heart beat faster and her cheeks grow warmer than they otherwise would have. When the older girl said she had a secret to tell her, she certainly was not expecting anything like this.

This certainly was helping her enjoy the party more – she loved to spend time with Joohyun, and it was especially nice to see her outside of school because that way they could converse more freely with each other than they otherwise would be able to. Unfortunately, Joohyun’s reputation could be at stake if anyone ever were to listen to their conversations, which made her a bit more reserved at school than other places. 

Sooyoung decided that she was going to take a risk, which normally wouldn’t be something that would scare her in the slightest, but because this involved Joohyun she was a bit anxious. It wasn’t like she was going to do anything too outrageous. She just wanted to rest her head on the other girl’s shoulder. It wouldn’t be too big of a feat, but it was a bit of a growth from their previous interactions.  
Slowly she leaned her head over, resting it on Joohyun’s right shoulder, then scooted over a little closer so she was up against the girl. After she was done this, the younger girl grabbed the elder’s hand and rested her own on top of it. Too scared to see her reaction, Sooyoung decided to close her eyes and smile to herself, pleased with her actions. She knew that Joohyun wouldn’t be uncomfortable with this, but she still was unsure of how she was going about with her actions. Would she think they were too soon? Not soon enough? How could she be certain of this? 

Joohyun was very pleased that the cute girl had decided to do this, she put her arm around the red haired girl’s shoulder and squeezed gently in a way that was similar to a hug. It was comfortable and they just sat like this for a little bit. They enjoyed each other’s company and the soothing silence between them. They didn’t feel the need to make any pointless conversation if they were both content with sitting like this part of the party, though eventually they began to talk some.

“Hey, Sooyoung,” Joohyun began.

Opening her eyes to look at the beautiful girl beside her, she replied, “Yes, what’s up?”

Pausing for a moment before speaking, the older girl simply answered, “I have a little headache because the party is somewhat loud. Could we go somewhere quieter?” 

“Of course,” she replied as she responded with a nod, “my room is upstairs, if that’s okay?”

Joohyun replied with a prompt, “I don’t have a problem with that,” and a smile. 

If you were to ask Sooyoung what she thought of Joohyun's smile, then she would say that it was blinding. Truthfully, she thought that the girl was beautiful, not just for her looks, but for who she was as a person too. She was quiet, yet so intelligent and caring. She always wanted to put others before herself because she cared about their well-being. Though, Joohyun was captivating and her smile could light up a dark room. She had never understood what people meant when they said that others could be angels, or perhaps even rays of sunshine, before she met the dark haired girl. If she was being honest, she was always awestruck by her; she couldn't understand how one person could be so amazing. 

"Follow me," she announced, standing up and motioning for the other girl to do the same.

The younger of the two led the other around to where the stairwell was and up the stairs slowly, as if not wanting to disturb the peace of the party. Ironic, since the party was loud and energetic, but she didn’t want to draw attention to them. Not that they were doing anything wrong, she just wanted to be alone with Joohyun for a little bit – this is a nice opportunity so she wanted to make the most of it for the time being. She was slightly nervous to show her more of her house as she hadn't cleaned it in advance or anything, but this was Joohyun and she made Sooyoung feel comfortable, making her paranoia rather short lived. 

Sooyoung stopped and announced, "Here we are; my humble place of dwelling."

They had reached a door at the end of the hall and the redhead opened it, revealing a slightly messy, yet functional room; a bit of an organized chaos. The walls were white with a few posters hanging up. She had a bed towards the end of it, along with a desk and chair up against the side wall and a small bookshelf on the opposite wall. It wasn’t too big nor was it too large; it was just right. Joohyun wasn’t sure what she expected her room to look like, though she thought it was very fitting for the girl. It was definitely not as lively as the party, for which the elder of the two was grateful as that certainly was helping her headache. Though, she was also certain that Sooyoung herself could be a remedy for her headache because of how she always felt better when she was around her. If she believed in magic then she might have called it that, but her heart told her otherwise. 

They walked over to her bed and ended up sitting next to each other. The older girl decided to rest her head on the redhead’s shoulder this time. It was comforting and inviting. She liked being physically close with Sooyoung and she wanted to be emotionally close to her as well. To put it simply, she just really liked the girl. Many people blindly judged the younger girl and thought she was just someone who enjoyed joking around and didn't really care for people, but that was not the case at all. Sooyoung cared about people more than she would care to admit. She really wanted the world to be the best place possible, which was quite admirable (and adorable) in Joohyun's opinion.

They sat like that for a bit, their hands eventually intertwining as they both were deep in thought, until Sooyoung spoke in a quiet voice, almost uncharacteristic of her, “I’m going to do something really stupid. I apologize in advance,” before looking over at the other girl, whose eyes were wide and bright with confusion and curiosity.

To the younger girl's complete surprise, Joohyun simply replied, "That's perfectly okay with me. Go ahead," causing her to blush a bit.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> sorry this was a little short; school and surgery (health issues in general, really) have made it difficult for me to update consistently! i am going to do my best to try to get back into a schedule of updates. 
> 
> any feedback is greatly appreciated! thank you

**Author's Note:**

> I would greatly appreciate any feedback on my characterization!


End file.
